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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260683">Rain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgyouatetheprincess/pseuds/omgyouatetheprincess'>omgyouatetheprincess</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sing To Me Instead [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Album: Sing To Me Instead (Ben Platt), Angst to Fluff, Censored cursing, Dancing in the Rain, First Kiss, M/M, One Shot, Prinxiety - Freeform, Serenade, Song: Rain (Ben Platt), Songfic, anxceit angst, kinda unsympathetic!Deceit | Janus Sanders, mentioned past anxceit, mentioned past roceit, roceit angst, sing to me instead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:55:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260683</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgyouatetheprincess/pseuds/omgyouatetheprincess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>During a storm, sometimes it's safer to not hide under trees, and instead dance under the rain. Roman and Virgil have a fight, but there may be one way to salvage their relationship</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sing To Me Instead [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Rain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is a fic based on the song 'Rain' by 'Ben Platt'. I suggest listening to that before reading this. this could techinically be apart of my 'Sing To Me Instead' series, but I honestly don't know anymore, I just wanted to write a self-indulgent fic</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If he could literally glare daggers, Virgil's ceiling would be gone beyond repair. As Derek Sanders sang the chorus of 'I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About' with raw emotion, Anxiety huffed and blinked back angry tears. He shouldn't be here, he should be on that date he had set up, but no - something just had to go wrong. Something always had to go wrong. That's just how things work when you think you have a chance at happiness. It happened with Janus, and Virgil was an idiot to think it wouldn't happen with Roman.</p><p>Roman, as annoying and boisterous as he was, had managed to intrude his way into Virgil's heart over the many months he had been trying to court the former dark side, and the latter gave in. Whether because he was curious, bored, or actually developed feelings for the prince, Virgil didn't know why but he agreed to go on a date with his pursuer. One date turned into two, two turned into five, and soon six months had flown by of them dating. Sometimes Creativity set them up in the Mindpalace, where his only limitation was himself, or they settled for simple movie nights in each other's rooms. Either way, Roman was the one who always put in the effort, and for once Virgil felt motivated to plan something special, it being their 'anniversary' and all (though he refused to acknowledge it as that).</p><p>But when you light a fire in the woods, it's bound to burn down.</p><p>Figuratively, of course. There was no literal fire, but there may as well be considering how burnt Virgil felt on the inside. All it really took was the smallest ember, something so small you wouldn't think it would be a problem. In fact, something so small that in all the anger he was in after, Anxiety forgot what the first spark was - all he remembered was the smoke and then the flames.</p><p>"Just move on, dude! Janus lies to everyone, it's literally who he is." Virgil yelled, getting annoyed at how many times Roman mentioned the snake. The two had a ... messy relationship, to say the least, though no one, not even the two involved, knew exactly what, but then the princely side dropped Miss Lie-gon one day. He realized Deceit was playing him all along, big surprise to no one else, and when Lee and Mary Lee tied the knot, Roman and Janus severed their ties. They weren't together, or even go on dates, but the selfish serpent would flirt with the prideful prince, butter him up, and Roman soaked it all up like a sponge. Being told exactly what he wanted to hear made it easy to trick him, even if the two had the same goal - the callback.</p><p>Roman scoffed as his hand flew to his chest. "Move on? You have no idea what I'm going through." He screamed back, just as annoyed at the audacity of the man in front of him, the man who set up a blanket fort in Roman's room to surprise him with a movie night, which had now been abandoned admist all the crossfire and was starting to cave in, spilling popcorn all over the floor, making a crackling background noise to their fight.</p><p>It was Virgil's turn to scoff, and he threw his arms in the air, feigning defeat. "Well, f*ck me gently with a chainsaw, you're right! It's not like Deceit and I have a history or anything, it's not like we were in a relationship before you two were or anything, it's not like he made me feel like gum on the bottom of his shoe or anything!" Sarcasm dripped from his words as he ranted and raved. "Oh wait, except all of that did happen, so I know exactly what you're going through. But do you see me still bringing him up after months?"</p><p>Neither Logan nor Patton know what compelled Virgil to leave the others, though Patton was convinced it was because Virgil had a fear of the dark, but after weeks of getting closer, Virgil entrusted Roman enough to tell him. Deceit loved the attention, and would usually seek it from Virgil since Remus could be, well, a bit much at times, but that led to Virgil thinking they were dating. However, Janus only cared about one side and that was himself. He was never emotionally there for Virgil, would insult him but not in the joking way like Roman did, and was overall a sh*tty person to be around. Virgil felt worse and worse with each day and knew that it was affecting Thomas too, so he made the decision to leave the source of his problems. It was tough since he had depended on Janus for a while, but when the Light Sides showed Virgil real love, only then did he realize that what he went through with Deceit wasn't healthy, and that he never wanted to feel like that again.</p><p>And that was why it took Roman months to score a date with Virgil. He didn't want to make another mistake like before. Anxiety knew Roman was different than Janus, and literally had hundreds of love letters telling him how much Roman wanted to be with him, cared about him, wanted to make him the Chemical to his Romance, but knew that one day the sh*t would hit the fan again.</p><p>Roman spat that Virgil was just like Janus, then there was more screaming from both of them before Virgil kicked down the last of the derelict blanket fort and sunk out into his room. And that was where he stayed for the rest of the night and the following day.</p><p>His playlist of angsty, angry songs that he was saving for a rainy day finally fulfilled its purpose. Music had always calmed Virgil, or at least made him feel better, but now it somehow made him feel... lost. Whenever Virgil had anxiety attacks or was feeling like a trash bin overflowing with waste, Roman would sing to him to ease his mind. So now, music just made Virgil miss his prince.</p><p>Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional played for the fourth time, and Virgil tore off his black headphones, throwing them and his phone down onto the messy clothes pile on his floor. His head fell into his hands, wanting nothing more than to go back in time - to stop the fight or stop the dating, he wasn't sure which one. Or maybe just to stop himself from getting rid of his music because the silence was overbearing.</p><p>Well, almost silence.</p><p>Virgil heard knocking at his door, and felt himself pale. His throat felt raw from screaming Paramore into his pillow all night, but he still cleared it and looked up from his hands.</p><p>"Who is it?" He hated how broken his voice sounded. There was no response. "Hello?" Still none. Groaning, Virgil stood on two shaky legs, feeling light-headed, and approached the door like a dear might approach a man with a net and gun. Half of him hoped Creativity wasn't on the other side, while the other half prayed it was.</p><p>Slowly, he unlocked the door and opened it the tiniest bit to see who was interrupting his moping, but there was no one there. Confused, Virgil opened it a little more, and a movement caught his eye - the flapping of paper. Someone had taped a folded piece of paper to his door. Taking the note, Anxiety anxiously looks up and down the corridor before retreating back inside his room.</p><p>The paper was pink and smelled like strawberries, just like all the love letters Virgil had stuffed into a box underneath his bed, which meant it was from the same sender. Did he dare read it?</p><p>Chewing his lip, he contemplated unfolding it. Meanwhile, another side was just as nervous as he was about the note.</p><p>Roman sat on a throne he had temporarily summoned in the Mindpalace and bounced his leg. Why did he think this was a good idea? He had ruined everything with Virgil, why would Anxiety want to see him again? It seemed like a good idea half an hour ago, but now Princey had the tightest knot in his stomach from the anticipation.</p><p>The idea first came to him when he was rewatching Ben Platt's Netflix special to comfort him. The Broadway actor's songs felt special to the theatre kid since he related Virgil and their relationship to them. But one song in particular stood out this time. The words alone contributed to their lives, but the chorus prompted a thought in Creativity's head. Anxiety had once said that, as sappy as it was, he'd love to dance in the rain one day, but Roman knew his hair would get messed up so they never did it.</p><p>But if Roman's stormcloud wanted to dance in the rain, then that's exactly what he'll do.</p><p>Digging out the special paper he used to write love letters to his crush, Roman wrote in a purple glitter pen:</p><p>
  <em>"Please meet me in the Mindpalace ASAP. - Princey"</em>
</p><p>Princey didn't bother writing an apology, figured it would mean more if it was in person, and used the nickname Virgil had given him. Then, leaving the fallen down mess of blankets in his room, he stuck the note to Virgil's door, knocked a few times to get his attention, and hightailed it to his second favourite place, his corner of the Mindpalace - his first favourite being Virgil's room.</p><p>And that was where Roman waited for his Night in Black Armour, his mind filled with doubts and words he shouldn't have said. He tried to distract himself by going over his plan mentally, but his intrusive regrets repeatedly made themselves known. He tried to rehearse his apology, but his insecurities reminded him that he didn't deserve forgiveness.</p><p>How much time had passed? Roman summoned a small pocket watch, which showed that an hour had passed since he arrived. Did Virgil not read the note, or worse, did he ignore what was written? Sighing, the prince on the brink of tears stood up, and was about to sink out, when something felt different all of a sudden. Being the controller of this part of the Mindpalace, Creativity could tell who was in there and what they summoned, and right now he wasn't alone in there.</p><p>"Where're you going, Roman?" A bitter voice called out, but when Roman looked around the town he had created, he couldn't see the person it belonged to. "Got something better to do?" The snide voice that was full of hatred and fire that hadn't quite yet been put out seemed to be all around Roman, almost as if to taunt him. It had been so rare that Virgil used his name instead of a nickname, and it hurt more than it should have. Did Virgil come just to break him more (which he felt he fully deserved), or was the prince imagining it?</p><p>With a wave of his hand, Creativity got rid of his throne and a small hopeful smile blessed his face. "You're here." He breathed, not sure if it was a statement or a question.</p><p>As if to answer, a figure emerged from the shadows behind one of the buildings and looked around, admiring the scene. Or just avoiding eye contact. Roman had created a town at night, the lampposts illuminating the cobble streets with a soft purple lighting, giving the scene a gentle magenta aesthetic. They were on a long winding road, but behind Roman was a big, open town square with a fountain.</p><p>Still not looking at Roman directly, Virgil cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Let's just get this over and done with, I haven't screamed my lungs out to All I Wanted yet." He joked humorlessly. Truth be told, the moping side wasn't exactly sure why he had come, wasn't sure what he was expecting.</p><p>After working up the courage to read the note, Virgil sat and started at the curly handwriting for what felt like an eternity, but honestly was however long 'The Ice Is Getting Thinner' by Death Cab for Cutie was. There was nothing Virgil wanted right then more than to see the side he had grown attached to, but the worst case scenarios were of course the first thing he thought of. Maybe Roman would humiliate him in front of Logan and Patton, maybe banish him back to the dark sides (he was dramatic like that, so it was definitely a possibility), or maybe he would take mercy on poor Anxiety and just end whatever they had by telling him how much he hated him.</p><p>Roman had traits in common with Janus, but while they were Janus' flaws, they were what made Roman great. His stubbornness was the reason Virgil took a chance on him, which led to the happiest days of his life, his confidence made Virgil start to love himself too, and his passion for things he loved made every date, or even just every day, an adventure. And Virgil would rather throw himself into Oogie Boogie's lair than let someone as incredible as Roman go.</p><p>Letting out a relieved breath and smiling like Hamilton when Eliza forgives him, Princey took a few cautious steps towards Virgil, even though he was still a few buildings away from him. "Okay, but first - we're gonna need these." He snapped his fingers, and a raincoat appeared on both of them.</p><p>The sudden change startled Virgil a little, and he jumped slightly before looking down at his outfit. The coat was semi-opaque and tinted violet with his logo patterned on, which was similar to Roman's, which was red with his own emblem. Anxiety looked up at Creativity, raising an eyebrow, but before he could ask what they were for, a song began playing from somewhere. Having listened to an album that reminded him of his prince a thousand times, Virgil recognized it straight away.</p><p>"You say you've been through this before, you gave away all your secrets to someone who up and left you in pieces," The dramatic side began singing, and Virgil had to stop himself laughing - of course Roman would try and win him back by serenading him. He sang the next line, looking a little bashful. "I know the feeling, believe me.</p><p>"I know the prices you gotta pay, I'm sacrificing my freedom and all just to get somebody to see me. Nobody said it was easy." Every so words, Roman would take a step closer towards Virgil, who would occasionally take a step back.</p><p>Pretending not to notice, a humble smile replaced Princey's (rare) serious face, and he put a little more zazz into his movements, almost like dancing. "My heart's been broken and broken and broken and broken, but I keep-keep on hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that if it keeps on breaking and breaking and breaking and breaking then one day it'll open and open and open and open and open for you-"</p><p>You'd have to be a robot, or Logan, to resist laughing at how ridiculous Roman looked right now, and Virgil was too stubborn to show that he was entertained, so he turned slightly to hide his face. If the literal embodiment of pride and ego was willing to make a fool of himself like this, it must have meant he was serious, right?</p><p>"Hey!" Stopping his 'walking', Roman stood in the middle of the street with his arms out, and the emo turned to look at him again. "I know we've both been afraid! But we can't run from the wind and the thunder when we're dancing under the rain, the rain, the rain!"</p><p>On the appropriate lyrics, the wind picked up a little and the faint rumbling of thunder could be heard. The storm could be a metaphor for their current situation, but maybe they could ignore the conflict by just enjoying the moment. On the third 'rain', the grey clouds littering the night sky began to weep on the quiet town, and Virgil couldn't help but gasp and flinch at the coldness, not that he minded. Flipping the hood up over his head, mostly worried about the eyeshadow he reapplied a few minutes ago, the darkly-dressed side was suddenly glad he swapped his usual ripped jeans for some comfy sweatpants.</p><p>However, Mr. Perfection seemed completely unaffected, not even bothering to cover his 'award-winning' hair. He walked towards Anxiety, who was hugging himself, and stopped when he was within arms reach. "Hey! I know we got what it takes. Ain't gonna run from the wind and the thunder when we're dancing under the rain-" Roman extended a hand towards Virgil, who looked down at it like it was both a lifeline and the shark in the waves. "The rain-" Cautiously testing the waters, Virgil put his small, pale hand in Roman's soft and slighter tanned one. "The rain! We're dancing under the rain!"</p><p>Pulling his stormcloud closer, Virgil didn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips, which caused Roman to join in too while slowly moving backwards with a spring in his stride. This wasn't going up in flames like either of them feared it would. Not to mention, Virgil was smiling again - dear Fairy Godmother, his smile was the sappy romantic's Kryptonite, and his immortality.</p><p>"Breathe deep, let it wash over you." It was almost getting hard to sing while Roman was beaming enough to light up a stadium, but he continued, leading the man he was hopelessly devoted to into the centre of the town with lots of free open space. Virgil did what the lyrics told him to, taking a deep breath, and when he exhaled he let all his worries, all the negativity he had been feeling just flow right off of him. He immediately felt better. "We're slowly becoming lovers, I promise you we won't be like the others."</p><p>The rainfall went from a trickle to a pour, but neither of them minded. It was true they had been getting closer over the past few months, and as much as Virgil tried to ignore it, he was falling in love with Roman, something he never would have expected. At first, it scared him how quickly these strong emotions came, but now he fully intended on embracing them. He wanted to show how he felt, show that he wasn't mad anymore and that he was sorry for what he said too, show that he wasn't afraid of being with Roman.</p><p>As the other side sang the next line, Virgil reached up to run his hand through the fairest prince's hair as he joined in with a loud, confident voice.</p><p>"We won't go running for cover!"</p><p>It clearly took Roman aback slightly, who's eyes widened and smile spread from ear-to-ear. Taking advantage of his speechlessness, the shy side used the lyrics to convey how he felt too.</p><p>Imitating the little dance/walk Creativity did earlier, Anxiety guided him backwards, grinning like a true man in love. Which was exactly what he was. "My heart's been broken and broken and broken and broken, but I keep-keep on hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that if it keeps on breaking and breaking and breaking and breaking then one day it'll open and open and open and open and open for you-"</p><p>It didn't take long for them to get into the wide area, and when they did, the lights changed from a purple hue to an intimate pink. A mischievous smirk graced Virgil's slightly red face, and as he yelled the next word, he jumped in a puddle, splashing himself but mostly Princey, whose jaw dropped. "Hey! I know we've both been afraid..."</p><p>"But we can't run from the wind and the thunder when-" Getting over his initial shock, the song turned into a duet, with both of the sides singing from their hearts. Roman took both of the usually dismal side's hands and began to swing the two men around in circles. "We're dancing under the rain, the rain, the rain!"</p><p>And that's exactly what they did. Together, they danced under the pouring rain as they continued to sing together, not caring about the puddles they were stomping in or the cold they weren't feeling - only each other. "Hey! I know we got what it takes, ain't gonna run from the wind and the thunder when we're dancing under the rain, the rain, the rain. We're dancing under the rain!"</p><p>They say that couples should finish each other's sentences, but Virgil and Roman were above that. As the song broke into two parts, the prince and the panic perfectly completed it, with Thomas Sanders' theatrical side taking the over-the-top part and the more modest mental-physical personality singing backup, which he didn't mind. Either way, they completed each other.</p><p>"Broken and broken and broken and broken, but I keep, keep on hopin' and hopin' and hopin' and hopin' that if it keeps on breakin' and breakin' and breakin' and breakin' then one day it'll open and open and open and open and open for you."</p><p>"We're dancing under the rain! Dancing under the rain, woah!"</p><p>Perfectly, the two voices joined to finish the last two choruses together. They were in unison, almost like they were one, and the dancing only got more in sync, with added twirls and footwork - Roman and Virgil danced like no one was watching, just the storm clouds above and the moon in all her glory.</p><p>Virgil would swear on his Fall Out Boy vinyls that he had never been happier in his existence, which is saying something for the embodiment of anxiety. He had never had someone cared for him like this before, and he had never not hated someone so much. As someone with a crippling fear of judgement from others, he sure was pretty carefree at that moment, spinning in the rain with a prince, both of them drenched to their cores.</p><p>If someone asked Roman to describe how he felt in that moment, he wouldn't be able to say - the moment was indescribable and he would give up all his playbills to frame it and hang it in a museum like the priceless artifact it was. It could be argued that, as well as creativity, he could represent romanticism and romance in general, which meant he was easily prone to developing strong feelings, but what he felt for the emo constantly on his mind didn't need a reason for him to know it was real and the greatest feeling he never wanted to let go.</p><p>The tension was rising, and they were both excited to finish the song, because even though this brought them so much more closer than ever before, they both wanted to see what would happen at the end.</p><p>"-We're dancing under the rain." Virgil had stopped singing, and while Roman continued, he stared at the man in front of him, the man he loved with his whole emo being. "The rain," Those lips, slightly pink from the cold, were like a siren lulling in this helpless sailor. And he wanted to drown at the hands of it. "The rain, we're dancing under the-"</p><p>Roman never sang that last word. Before he could, Virgil grabbed the front of his raincoat and pulled him towards him, pressing their lips together. Fireworks exploded somewhere, whether they were literally there or not neither of them were sure, but the sparks were electrifying. The rain didn't only stop, but the free-falling droplets froze in the air around the couple. It was like the whole Earth stopped for them to savour their first kiss.</p><p>It was perfect for Anxiety and Creativity. It didn't matter if the former had slightly chapped lips, it didn't matter if the latter still had his arms awkwardly out mid-dance, the kiss was the most perfect thing to either of them. Maybe they both were sappy for each other. Finally, Roman moved his arms to Virgil's shoulders, then felt the other's hands on his waist, holding him close.</p><p>Eyes closed, chests warm and time stopped, their lips moved purposefully together with the passion of a great typhoon and the sweetness of a petal on a stream. Fifteen seconds felt like fifteen lifetimes together, and when they unfortunately but inevitably had to resurface for air, their faces could light up all of America with how much they were smiling. Virgil rested his forehead slightly on top of Roman's (he loved teasing that he would be a little taller than the prince if he didn't slouch so much) and let out the lightest laugh.</p><p>"So you're not mad at me anymore?" The insecure side asked, looking bashfully at the emo he had just serenaded and got his self-proclaimed 'Vogue-worthy' hair messy for - at the exact time that said emo spoke.</p><p>"I love you."</p><p>Instead of replying, Roman's eyes widened to the size of magic mirrors and he held his breath, almost as if he was scared to make another sound and hear Virgil take it back. But he didn't. "I'm sorry, I know you probably really wanted to say it first, but I was scared I'd run away before saying it, which-" Clearly, Anxiety was having a fight with himself about whether he should take flight, and Roman held him impossibly closer to keep him safe in his arms.</p><p>"I love you so much."</p><p>Virgil's rambling came to a swift end, and he stared into the other's eyes after he confessed that to try and see if there was any sign of deception, and when he realized there wasn't, he pounced forward for another kiss. Hearing those words had lifted so much weight off of both of their shoulders. This kiss was shorter this time, mostly because Roman pulled away. He lifted his arm and sneezed into the crook on his elbow, and realized they were still out in the cold rain, which was falling normally again.</p><p>They both laughed, and Virgil held out a hand. "Come on, let's get out of here. His royal sickness can recover in his room, right after we rebuild that blanket fort,"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading! if you want to leave constructive criticism, I'll try not to cry /j<br/>also if I missed a tag, please let me know! I'm not good at the tagging part of posting</p><p>edit: ben platt just released his new song and I watched the video for it because im trash for him, and the scenes where he's dancing in the street is almost exactly what I imagined the scene in this story would look like. please go support him &lt;3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m70w-33z6AM&amp;list=TLPQMjIwNDIwMjFbLTswZCXRwQ&amp;index=10</p></blockquote></div></div>
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